Aces smash Kings in T20

The Auckland Aces have joined the Northern Knights in the Twenty20 Super Smash finals.

They made light work of the Canterbury Kings on Wednesday evening, winning by four wickets with 14 balls to spare.

Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira was the star with the ball for the Aces, taking 4-26 as they restricted the Kings to 145, a total that was always going to be hard to defend on Eden Park Outer Oval.

The Aces now sit two points behind the Knights at the top of the table, and their win has left the Kings, the Wellington Firebirds and the Central Stags chasing the final spot in the top three.

At the end of the six-over power play, they were 51-3, with Glenn Phillips out for a duck in the first over, Mark Chapman in and out for a nine-ball 23, and Sean Solia gone for a run-a-ball 17.

Still, they remained well ahead of the asking rate, and once captain Craig Cachopa and Robbie O’Donnell settled in, the contest was over.

Cachopa was out for 41 off 29 balls, while O’Donnell went on to make 55 off 42, only falling once the finish line was in sight.

Kings seamer Kyle Jamieson was tidy in his four overs, taking

2-23, but he didn’t get the support he needed.

The Kings’ innings consisted of three acts.

The first act was where they lost the game, collapsing to 33-5 in the seventh over, with Hira taking the wickets of Nick Kwant and Chad Bowes.

The second act was where they gave themselves a slight sniff, as wicketkeeper Cam Fletcher and captain Andrew Ellis combined for a sixth-wicket partnership of 87 off

67 balls.

The third act began when Hira returned, then claimed Ellis – for

40 off 30 – and Tim Johnston with the next ball prompted a final flurry from the tail that left the Kings with 145-9 from their 20 overs.

Fletcher was run out by Hira for 46 off 42 in silly circumstances in the penultimate over, fumbling his bat halfway down the wicket and trying to slide it in handle first.

In usual circumstances, 146 would have been easy pickings, but on a pitch that appeared to be slowing up, there remained a question mark, however faint.

The Aces finish the regular season at home against the lowly Otago Volts on Sunday, a match they should win.

They will watch the Kings’ match against the Knights in Hamilton with interest – a match the Cantabrians need to win to have any chance of staying ahead of the Firebirds and Stags.

If the Kings win, the Aces could earn hosting rights for the final.

The Firebirds and Stags are the next teams in action, in New Plymouth on Friday, and meet again in the capital on Sunday, the final day of the regular season.

The second-placed team plays the third-placed team in the preliminary final three days later, with the final to follow three days after that.